The Property Addict / Distinct Dwellings

Start-up whizzes' modern family home

The Property Addict / Distinct Dwellings

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"We were pretty specific about what we wanted,"Â says Neil Blumenthal from the living room of his Greenwich Village apartment.
"We had like a three-block radius,"Â interjects his wife Rachel, laughing at their hyper level of specificity. Among the criteria for the entrepreneurial couple"â?he's the cofounder of Warby Parker, and her latest venture is the subscription kids 'clothing company Rockets of Awesome"â?and their two young children, Griffin, 6; and Gemma, 2: a doorman building on a quiet, tree-lined street (no double lanes or buses"â?too noisy) within the aforementioned three-street-by-three-avenue confines. And light"â?lots of it.
Neil, a downtown-Manhattan native who spent his childhood on the 27th floor of a nearby high-rise with vistas all the way downtown to the Twin Towers, wouldn't consider anything without a view. "He's the view snob,"Â says Rachel, who grew up in the decidedly less urban Cape Cod. "I didn't really care about the views. I just wanted space."Â
When she stumbled upon a StreetEasy listing for a relatively low-sitting eighth-floor three-bedroom, three-and-a-half bath apartment, she didn't even mention it to her husband: "I just assumed he would hate it. I went to the open house by myself."Â To her surprise, she discovered big bay windows with clear southern-facing views down to the World Trade Center. She immediately called Neil, who saw it, loved it, and then called his parents for a final blessing. "His mom walked in"â?and she's the view snob of everybody,"Â recalls Rachel. "She got to about there"Â"â?she signals to the living room archway"â?"and she goes, "Ë?Buy it.'"Â
One thing the couple hadn't discussed in their quest for a family home: construction. The apartment, which is in a 1962 building, was in its original condition and needed a lot of TLC. They hired architect Bill Rooney and designer Kenneth Branyan, a husband-and-husband team who had recently completed the home of close friends, and thus began a yearlong process of modernizing the space.
They created a gallery-style foyer in glossy navy, with cove lighting to give the illusion of higher ceilings; added more storage space, including Rachel's pride and joy, a stroller closet; and broke down a wall dividing the living room and one of the bedrooms to create an open living/library space with a large, fabric-covered sliding door framed in steel. All the bathrooms were updated. The galley kitchen was transformed into an open kitchen/dining area where the family now spends the majority of their time when they're home. Classic white framed cabinets are punctuated with gold hardware, and a Calcutta gold backsplash lends a glamorous touch, while Corian countertops create a practical, family-friendly base. "We taped out the island so when you sit at the counter, you can see all the way to the living room windows,"Â says Neil. "I was like, I'm going to want to have breakfast here and to be able to look out."Â A romantic, if impractical, thought: "I've never sat and had breakfast here,"Â he says.
Together with Branyan, they sourced a mix of contemporary and vintage furnishings. "I really dislike when you go into an apartment and you're like, Oh, that's the that chair and that's the that rug, and everything is recognizable,"Â says Rachel. "I went to the depths of different websites. We also did a lot custom."Â She found the dining chairs on Dering Hall and had them reupholstered. The chandeliers came from 1stDibs. And while neutrals are the dominant color theme, they are given depth through a multitude of textured fabrics and materials"â?nubby tweeds, velvet, stingray, marble.
The real pops of color, however, come from the art. Though Rachel and Neil call themselves amateur collectors, their roster is impressive and includes works by Marilyn Minter, Jeff Koons, Hunt Slonem ("I had never seen a rainbow version of his bunnies,"Â says Rachel. "I loved how it was so happy and it felt like a family"Â), Rob Pruitt, and Jose Parla, the latter two of whom Neil serves on the board of the nonprofit RX Art with. Much of the art, he notes, was purchased at charity auctions: "We figure if we're going to be spending money, we want it to have double impact."Â
One room that certainly inspires a double take is the powder room, which is wallpapered with original illustrations by their friend, the artist Donald Robertson (perhaps best known by his Instagram handle @drawbertson). "We had this debate because I always think the powder room should be the sexy bathroom, and Neil was like, "Ë?I don't want a sexy bathroom. That's weird,'"Â says Rachel. He suggested another idea, which then she nixed. "I was like, that's very Warby Parker brand, not very home, family brand."Â Ultimately, they formed a consensus around Robertson. "We told him our favorite animals and the things that we like to do, like yoga and skiing,"Â says Rachel. He in turn dreamed up icons such as a blue-footed booby (Neil's spirit animal), an engagement ring (Rachel designed hers), glasses (a nod to Warby Parker), a pacifier (for Griffin, who was a toddler at the time), and a giraffe doing SoulCycle (a onetime hobby that's taken a backseat to parenting these days). The drawings were laid out by Partners and Spade and printed by Flavor Paper.

For the two children's rooms, they went for a grown-up vibe with subdued hues and sophisticated furnishings, the most playful gesture being the Fornasetti wallpaper"â?hot air balloons for Griffin and floral wreaths for Gemma. "I love kids' rooms that feel like they can grow with them, that aren't too juvenile,"Â says Rachel. Griffin's bed was sourced from Restoration Hardware, and a vintage chest of drawers was freshened up with gray-blue lacquer paint. "When he first saw his room, he was like, "Ë?This is ugly. Where's the color?'"Â says Rachel. "We were like, "Ë?Griffin, it's so chic and the wallpaper has metallic in it!'"Â The room has grown on him. "If we'd let him choose, it would have been Sesame Street central in here."Â

For a couple whose own businesses project a classic yet cool, playful yet chic, unfussy vibe, their apartment is very much on-brand, if slightly more refined than Warby or Rockets. "It's very livable,"Â says Rachel. "We're not proper people. We didn't want a white room that no one can enter for twenty-five years"â?I grew up having that room. We wanted a flexible space that we can use as a family or entertain in."Â
Their own favorite spot in the home: the living room couches. They designed them to be double-wide so they can lie next to each other to watch TV or just take in the skyline. (The low, cutout backs ensure the view isn't obstructed.) "Before we moved in here, I was always like, you never look out the window,"Â says Rachel. "But, this one we do."
ByÃ?Â Jane KeltnerÃ?Â de Valle, Architectural DigestSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

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